Chapter 5

Wyn:

“This is a complete surprise to you,” Wyn said. “This was going to happen. Well, not this. This is one of those we’ll-laugh-about-it-later moments. I mean, I volunteered for testing because I was nervous. We were always going to be matched.” She waved a hand and then tried to smooth back her curls.

Ugh. She fell asleep in her clothes, and now they were rumpled. Plus, no scarf for her hair and she felt greasy from the long-ass day and in need of a bath. How bad was her bedhead? Probably pretty horrific, judging from the way Lorran watched her hair spring back when she tried to tame it.

“Communications have been down,” he eventually said.

“For three weeks?”

His eyes narrowed, and he glanced toward the partition. “Yes. I have already spoken with management about my displeasure.”

Displeasure. Awesome. Great start.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose. Her head still ached, but not as badly as before.

“Your head,” he started to say.

“Is fine. I’m dehydrated. Can teleportation dehydrate you? Gross. Imagine just evaporating away while you’re in a million particles. Does teleportation work that way?”

“No. You are not deconstructed and reassembled,” he said and retrieved a container from the storage rack. He picked through a box, then a second.

Wyn admired the crisp line his uniform made as he turned his back to her, which was also gross because she didn’t need to be creeping on the guy. He did not seem thrilled about her arrival, and no amount of thirsting after the way his pants stretched over his buns would change that. Besides, now was not the time. Get a grip, woman.

Supplies in hand, Lorran returned. “A headache can be a symptom of several maladies. Teleportation sickness is one. Here. Drink. Eat.” He handed her a water cube and a silver foil packet.

“I haven’t seen one of these since I was a little kid,” she said. During the invasion, while her family sheltered in a refugee camp, all meals came in self-heating foil packets and water was contained in jiggly gelatin-like cubes. No packaging to worry about disposing of and easy to bite into, and the gelatin could even be eaten if you were hungry enough. Thankfully, Wyn had never been that hungry. The water cubes caught on and remained a staple, stocked in every convenience store, corner shop, and gas station.

She gripped the foil packet by the seal and crinkled the material. Instantly, the packet warmed. Steam erupted as she tore off the top, followed by a pungent chemical aroma. Wyn wrinkled her nose.

Yeah. That was why the foil packets never caught on. Everything sort of tasted the same and had a funky smell.

He waited as Wyn used the flimsy spoon to eat the…chili mac? Some ground meat with bits of pasta that looked like dime-sized grains of rice in an orange sauce that was definitely not cheese. She drained the water cube and stuffed the empty gelatin shell into the foil packet.

“Improved?” He scooped up the rubbish and fed it into a slot in the wall.

“Yes. I’m sorry for rambling. I’m nervous. Horribly nervous. I’ve been obsessing about this for weeks, wondering about you, and then I thought you planned a honey—” She nearly tripped over the word. “A get-to-know-you trip and here you didn’t even know I was coming.”

She looked around the shuttle. If he didn’t expect her, why were they going on a not-honeymoon? “Where are we going?”

“I am answering a distress call. You should not be here, but time is critical. I cannot return you.” His lip curled on mention of returning her, like he couldn’t wait to return her.

Yup, so not a honeymoon and disappointing all around.

“You don’t want me here?” She needed to hear him say it, rather than try to read his thoughts when her head still felt scrambled.

“This is a dangerous mission. What I want is immaterial. You will remain on the ship.”

“But if you didn’t have to answer a distress call? What are you expecting to find? Pirates?” She gasped with excitement at the prospect of an adventure. Adventure was so much better than a honeymoon. Well, good, but for different and less naked reasons. “Space pirates?”

His eyes narrowed. He stood, towering above her. In that moment, Wyn felt small, as small as she had been when that Mahdfel warrior rescued her nineteen years ago. Only this time she didn’t feel safe.

“Death,” he said. “I expect to find bodies.”

The rush of excitement turned to ice in an instant.

“Stay here. Do not get in my way. I do not have time for this,” he said, turning to leave. The partition rattled as it closed behind him.

Lorran:

That could have gone better.

Lorran slunk back to the helm, turning over the encounter in his mind. He tended to her physical needs but understood he failed to address her emotional needs. How many newly matched females had he escorted through the Judgment? Each had their own unique response to their new mates and new lives. He thought of his brother’s mate, Hazel, and how she had wanted a connection, to make friendships and find her place in a new situation.

Had Wyn’s rambling chatter been her attempt at making a connection? And he chided her.

Shameful.

But necessary. His assessment of the distress call remained the same. Either the crew had perished due to the delayed response or it was a trap. He could not afford to be distracted by his new mate.

“I trust you are skilled enough to manage a gate,” Mylomon said.

“Yes, I have received all the basic training.” Gates. How insulting. The pilot simply entered a code, and the computer did the rest. “Shall I verify that I know which end of a blade to hold?”

Mylomon was not amused. The male brushed past Lorran, knocking his shoulder with more force than necessary. “I will attempt to rest. You have the helm. Try not to fly into an asteroid.”

Lorran took the helm. Briefly, he entertained the idea of turning the shuttle around and returning his mate to the Judgment. She would be disappointed, but she would be safe. Mylomon would be displeased. Furious, even. What consequences could he deal out that would hurt more than knowing that Lorran failed Bronwyn? Breaking his horns? A few bones? He’d heal.

Stars, he had only spoken a handful of words to the female, but he was already willing to sacrifice himself for her safety.

His brothers and father, however, would see his disobedience as another lapse in focus and responsibility.

He sighed, unwilling to disobey Mylomon’s orders and disappoint his family.